Tom Daschle’s history as an adviser to some of the health care industry’s most influential companies is raising the ire of public interest groups and GOP officials, who have questioned his increasingly prominent role in discussions on health reform among senior White House aides and senators.

But Daschle’s dual role as Democratic strategist and “senior policy adviser” at global law firm DLA Piper, which he joined recently, prompted critics to question whether it was appropriate for him to be on the inside.

“The revelation that [Daschle] is guiding legislative strategy in the Senate would be more shocking if President Obama had not violated his pledges of transparency so many times already,” said Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who chairs the Republicans’ campaign committee in the Senate. “Mr. Daschle’s presence in this meeting raises serious ethical concerns and should make clear to the American people that special interests, not their interests, are behind the 2,000-page health care bill on the Senate floor.”

Daschle is not a registered lobbyist, but DLA’s website says he will “counsel clients on a wide range of regulatory and government affairs issues.”

Craig Holman of the government watchdog group Public Citizen asserted that Daschle meets the definition of a lobbyist and should not be present where the future of the Senate’s health care bill was being hammered out.

“He can sell his knowledge to the wealthy special interests, and as he gets more intimately involved in these meetings, he gets more knowledge that he can sell again, and it keeps going back and forth,” Holman said.

Daschle’s office did not respond to requests for comment. He started at DLA on Tuesday, after four years at the law firm Alston & Bird. DLA represents Rite-Aid and Medicines Co.

Defenders on the Hill said Daschle’s years of experience were a valuable asset in plotting a winning strategy for the health care legislation. Besides, said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), “no one doubts Tom Daschle’s integrity.”

White House spokesman Reid Cherlin said in a statement: “Tom Daschle is one of the country’s foremost advocates for health reform, and his expertise in legislative strategy and long-standing friendships with senators from both parties put him in a unique position to help Senate leadership chart the course forward.” Cherlin declined further comment.

It was unclear who invited Daschle to the Monday meeting and why. An Obama administration aide said Reid put the meeting together. But a Senate leadership aide said Reid did not assemble the invite list. He was there as part of a team assembled two weeks ago by the White House to talk with wavering senators about the bill, the aide said.

A Senate Democratic aide said Monday’s meeting was about legislative tactics and whip strategy.

“Daschle, as a former Senate majority leader, knows a thing or two about both,” the aide said. “His integrity is unquestioned, and he remains as good a strategist and thinker on these issues as he was when the president wanted him for his Cabinet. Plus, no one would accuse this bill of going easy on health insurers.”

Daschle, who was defeated for reelection in 2004, came under fire over his income taxes when Obama nominated him as Health and Human Services secretary; Daschle withdrew his name.

Critics also took aim at him last summer when he championed health insurance co-ops instead of a government-run insurance option that Alston & Bird clients, such as UnitedHealth, oppose.

Between 2005 and September 2008, Alston & Bird made at least $16 million lobbying HHS, according to records filed with the Senate. The firm’s clients included Kidney Care Council, an association of kidney dialysis providers; Health South, one of the nation’s largest health care providers; the American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association; and the Generic Pharmaceutical Association.